~ Gore Vidal

* Local author, chaplain, and cancer survivor Debra Jarvis will be at Elliott Bay Book Company this evening, September 3rd, at 7:30 PM to read from her mermoir It’s Not About the Hair: And Other Certainties of Life and Cancer. This isn’t the sort of reading I would normally put on my calendar, because I’m paranoid and superstitious about cancer, which is why I should definitely read this book. The event is in conjunction with Gilda’s Club Seattle [www.gildasclubseattle.org]. Jarvis’s publisher is Sasquatch Books, one of the few, proud, Seattle-based publishing companies [www.sasquatchbooks.com].

* JUST CONFIRMED: Kathy Reichs, producer of the FOX show “Bones,” will NOT be signing at Seattle Mystery Bookshop tomorrow, September 4th, so if you want a signed copy of her novel Devil Bones (#11 in the Termperance Brennan series), you must call or email [206-587-5737 or staff@seattlemystery.com] to reserve one. I suspect Reichs’ publisher double-booked her, because Third Place Books, up in Lake Forest Park, has her on their calendar at 7:00 PM.

* The most unusual signing Thursday, September 4th, will be on the 4:40 PM Seattle/Bainbridge ferry. Local author Susan Wiggs will sign Just Breathe aboard the M/V Wenatchee in the Main Cabin. She’s also having a drawing to win a gift basket, so if you are commuting anyway, why not swing by?

* If you missed Sherman Alexie at Bumbershoot, he’s going to be at the Ballard Branch of Seattle Public Library on Thursday, 6:30 PM – 7:45 PM. He’ll be reading from his latest, the YA novel The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, and he’ll also probably answer questions, and be his usual brilliant self. This event is co-sponsored by Ballard’s Secret Garden Bookshop, as part of their First (hopefully) Annual SET HERE Series, to celebrate great books set in our region. Go show some love.

* The U Village Barnes & Noble is hosting Jeff Howe, author of Crowdsourcing: Why The Power Of The Crowd Is Driving The Future Of Business, Thursday at 7:30 PM. Wow, crowdsourcing, what an amazing concept! Many hands do make light work and now there is a business book to prove it. Good gravy, Davey! Before Howe coined himself a word, people called it volunteerism, community spirit, consumer focus groups, black-box testing, or the SETI project. I wonder: has Howe ever been to a barn-raising, worked on an AIDS quilt, or spent a day at a U-Pick farm? Go to B&N to ask. Or to heckle. Whichever.

* Also, on Thursday, September 4th, Tacoma News-Tribune sportswriter Dave Boling reads from his debut novel, Guernica, at Elliott Bay Books (7:30 PM). Reviews have generally been good: Powell’s compares Guernica to Corelli’s Mandolin and The English Patient; Publishers Weekly says “Boling is skillful with characters and dialogue, possessing a great sense of timing and humor, though some historical cameos feel forced (especially Picasso, who pops up throughout), and some plot twists can be seen from quite a long way off.” (Sept. Reed Business Information)

* Seattle is not a huge poetry town—we’re not bereft of poets, but we don’t have the poetic saturation of certain other cities-that-shall-not-be-named. (Sniff.) We simply have higher standards; for example, Cal Kinnear, who is not only a poet, but administrative director for Washington Lawyers for the Arts. He will read from his new book, A Walk in Bardo, on Friday at 7:30 PM at Elliott Bay Books. Kinnear is published by Blue Begonia Press, a Yakima-based publishing company [www.bluebegoniapress.com].